8 Things You Can Do To Empower Young People This National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

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Today is the 3rd National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day — a meaningful day for us as an adolescent health educator and feminist youth worker. But we weren’t always as aware or passionate about educating young adults about safe sex and, today, we are reminded of the experiences that led us to this work.

It started at 17, when I (Brittany) was asked by an educator if I was at risk for HIV. I shrugged and confidently replied, “Of course not!” Little did I know that I was. I’d had unprotected sex before because I didn’t have adequate knowledge about safe sex at the time. I got tested for the first time that day and it truly changed my life. Getting tested gave me the power to …

Lost Women of History: Boudicca

Boudicca

Editor’s note: I have always been a strong proponent of making education about, celebration of, and respect for history a significant part of the feminist movement. The entire first chapter of A Little F’d Up: Why Feminism Is Not A Dirty Word is actually a broad overview of the incredible women who came before us. Trailblazing women are routinely left out of the history books and, beyond this being insulting to their brave and historic work and memory, it can often lead to young women today failing to realize just how far we’ve come in a relatively short period of time. So, in that spirit, we’re starting a series on the FBomb devoted to remembering some of these figures.

I Need Feminism Because I Am Blind Without It

The feminist fight is one that the general public tends to sweep under the carpet.

In other words, the feminist movement is often overlooked as a useless fight. Far too many people believe that the women’s fight is over.

Speaking from the perspective of a 17-year-old male, I believe that it is not hatred towards women or a belief that they should be in a lower status or portrayed in a certain manner that keeps us from moving forward, but rather a lack of knowledge for the actual causes being fought for in the feminist movement and the long-lasting effects these issues have in society.

Taking a feminist studies and activism class in high school opened my eyes to domestic as well as international issues that devastate our world. These …

Building A National Curriculum for Future Feminists

Let's learn about feminism!

Education is the key to success. And if we want the feminist movement to be successful, we need to educate people on the matter. My dream is for feminism and feminist theory to be a mandatory national curriculum for everyone, just like math and history are. At the very least, I would love for it to be incorporated some way into a teacher training curriculum.

Feminism can relate to and work well with many subjects and the fact that we aren’t teaching it to our youth is so appalling to me. Feminism is a collective of core values that ideally everyone should possess; it is a fight for everyone to actually follow these values and I don’t understand how this isn’t being taught everywhere!

School Crossing Signs

You’ve seen the signs I mean – silhouette figures of two children about to cross the road: one boy, one girl. (How do we tell? One’s wearing a skirt.) (That’d be the girl.) (Really, do most girls still wear skirts to school?)

Note that the boy is taller. ‘Oh, but they are.’ Not at that age! Taller suggests older which suggests more mature, wiser. And just in case you miss this not-so-subtle suggestion of male authority, look, he has his hand on the little girl’s shoulder – guiding, protecting, patronizing. It will be there for the rest of her life.

Go East, Young Woman

Wellesley College

Ever since I made my decision to attend Wellesley College, I find myself having to defend it to most of my high school classmates. Many of them know nothing about the school, and when I tell them about it they ignore its academic reputation and amazing alumnae. To them, it is simply a women’s college. And since I’ve decided to go there, they have surmised that I must hate men, am a lesbian or am doomed to life as a crazy cat lady.

It gets tiresome hearing my classmates’ reasons why I shouldn’t go. One boy even told me, “You won’t know how to interact with men past the age of 18.” (Forget the fact that I will have male professors and will interact with some …

Feminism and Education: The Truth About Student Loans

I would argue that the most difficult thing about the entire process of higher level, collegiate education is not getting in, though that is what the public conversation at large is about. The most difficult, troubling part of higher education is paying for it once you do get in. Even with financial aid, even with other scholarships, so many people end up with crippling debt by the end of their college years.

These past few months, I’ve watched my class celebrate getting into college. Then I’ve watched everybody have an “Oh, shit” moment trying to figure out where the money is going to come from to fund the next four years of their life. I’ve watched brilliant people decide to go to schools they are beyond over-qualified for because they …

Saturday Vids: Educate Girls in Malawi

Help Educate Girls In Malawi!

Statistically, according to UNESCO’s 2005 Education For All monitoring report, only 31% of adult women can read and write in Malawi. This is shocking when compared to men – 80% of whom are literate. Kasungu district in Malawi, where the Join My Village project is taking place is no exception in terms of prioritizing boys when it comes to education. Kasungu is among the top list of districts where literacy levels are very low in women.

Once educated, a girl child is more capable of helping the greater family as she is the one that spends more time with them and so can act as a good mentor. An educated girl can easily manage to start a small business that can help the family financially. …